Vison of Life...It speaks about my views towards what's happening around us, though many of the things represents Pune, a becoming Metro in Maharashtra,India yet most of us live in similar city life. In city day to day life all we face is problems around us; from traffic to water to slums to power supply & many more, but who has solutions? That's why the name
Vison of Life!
Sanjay Deshpande

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Fighting Encroachment!

“You cannot
escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today”…Abraham
Lincoln

Abraham
Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States & probably the wisest
of all & is well known for his wittiness too! His many quotes are proof
that he can deliver a serious dosage, coating the same with humor. Yet here
what he said is applicable to our very beloved PMC i.e. Pune Municipal
Corporation, which usually adhere to later part of the quote means thinking to evade
the responsibility, is best way to deal with it. I am referring about whatever
has happened in very recent news about PMC’s anti encroachment squad; even the
head of the squad itself has been beaten & injured seriously. Here many as
usual will wonder what’s it to us, isn’t it a regular news or say drama as PMC
keeps on doing such acts & again all is well scene is there immediately
after the squad goes away from the spot! I
think whatever has happened isn’t that simple as the person who was attacked is
a very senior person in PMC & heads the entire anti encroachment division;
attacking him means its attack on the entire system named PMC which is supposed
to prevent every encroachment or say illegal structure in the city.
And if in day light he is going to get beaten up by the citizen who are doing illegal
things, one can imagine what will be situation on roads for the public!

Before
we go to the root cause of encroachments lets see what has happened, Mr. Jagtap
who heads anti encroachment squad of PMC which went to demolish a hotel on a
land which in DP has been reserved for purpose of police station. This hotel is
running since years & when the squad went there to demolish the same the
owner as well his collogues attacked the squad which caused serious injuries to
Mr. Jagtap. Joke is there was police
enforcement along but seems the attackers outnumbered them & the police ran
away; yes this is what has been printed in major news papers! Well well, where
has gone the “Sadrakshnay Khalanigrhanay” motto of police force & oath
which policeman took, to stand besides justice while joining the force, is any common
man will ask! But that’s separate topic of sharing, so let’s focus
on cause of this incidence. For that we will have to understand the term
encroachment & as its spread all around the city.

Many a people mix-up
encroachment & illegal construction, so let’s first know what the
difference is!Like every square is a rectangle in
geometry; same way every encroachment is illegal construction or illegal act
but not necessary every illegal construction meant encroachment! Anywhere
in the city or outside city we have some definite rules to construct any
structure; these rules not only defines how much to build on a particular piece
of land but on which land what can be build & which land to be kept vacant
that also has been defined. Illegal
construction is anything which is done without obtaining proper permissions of
the governing authority which in Pune is PMC. Encroachment is extending limits
of the space defined or sanctioned & it includes building something on a
land which in ownership of somebody else. For e.g. building something inside
margins or roof terraces of a structure i.e. a space which is supposed to be
left open or vacant. Or it can be a stall of vegetables on footpath which is
public property or like the case in news paper where the concerned person has
started a hotel on a land which is under ownership of PMC. Encroachment can
be on private property also but then in that case the matter goes to police
& then to civil court & doesn’t come under jurisdiction of PMC or local
body. So at large we can say that encroachment is trying to use piece of land
or space for personal or commercial purpose, which is for public use only! PMC
has two separate departments, one is building control department, which deals
with permissions for building construction & another is encroachment
department which deals with encroachments specifically. Though job of building
control department is to curb the encroachment chances in the beginning itself
but once the structure is complete with occupancy certificate then the building
permission department has little to do. So it’s the job of encroachment department
to keep check on any such act which will misuse the purpose defined by building
permission department. Then PMC also has land & estate department which is
supposed to take care of all the properties which are not public properties i.e.
roads & gardens but are in form of vacant lands which are in possession of
PMC & their final use is awaited to get developed. For e.g. a plot which
has reservation of play ground or hospital on it but the construction is yet to
be started for various reasons, one of which may be no budget provision! If
somebody illegally takes possession of such plot & starts using the plot
for hotel or garage then that’ comes under jurisdiction of encroachment
department.

Main
thing is why can’t we make a system which will ensure minimum chances of encroachment,
for e.g. to start with why can’t we properly fence or say make a compound wall
strong enough to protect it from any illegal entrant? Also mark every
reservation plot with a sign board as well there has to be a system with help
of software like Goggle Earth which can keep all such lands in possession of
Govt under twenty four hours survivelence! The so called property cell has to
be strengthened with enough staffer in form of security services with weapons
as all such properties of PMC. Then all the roads as well public properties now
are under survivelnece of the CC TV, so we can use them for checking encroachment
especially footpath encroachments as well commercial establishments using their
spaces reserved for parking for other purposes. This shouldn’t be a monthly
drive but form a squad ward wise & daily check system of same. This squad
will visit every day certain number of properties especially the commercial
& check up for the uses of the same, the main focus should be disturbance
values due to such encroachment to the public at large. Best examples are, a
hotel in parking lot or go-down of materials in side margin of the building,
making obstruction to parking as well movements of the citizens around &
within the building. Upload photographs of all such findings on PMC web site
& make it interactive so people also can add the photographs because many a
time immediately after the action taken the said encroachers start fresh is
what we all have experienced. Another issue is reliability of such squad as
most of the time they ignore the encroachment when it’s just start & then
it becomes a habit & then it’s too late, this is what has happened in the
latest case of beating up of Mr.
Jagtap. So like cancer its best to remove or cure the encroachment when it’s just
start as that time only it’s easier to remove it from roots. Also role of
building permission department is very much important as while giving
occupation certificate to assure the building is in the way which has been
sanctioned nothing more than that. And building permission dept also can keep a
routine watch on use of the buildings they have given completion certificate.
There has to be joint periodic meetings of all these depts of PMC which can
help to share information regarding encroachments. Another aspect is Police interference as
they bother least when asked to help to curb encroachment, may it be on govt or
private property. A separate State Level, Anti Encroachment Force like State
Reserve Police must be formed as encroachments is more dangerous than riots or
floods, damaging millions of rupees revenues which could have come from various
taxes as well causing distress to entire society!

Then there
is another form of encroachment & that is usually neglected or conveniently
ignored & its encroachment by the Govt or Govt bodies itself on public
properties! We all have witnesses hundreds of PMT busses standing or parked
right on the roads for whole night when they are of duty blocking most part of
the road, those who travel by PMC main building road must have witnessed this!
And then go to PMC ward offices or any Police Station, all the open space around
the same is filled up by every possible junk from confiscated vehicles to
debris, leaving no space for visitors. And then the gas pipe lines of Mahanagar
Gas Nigam has been laid right on footpath of the bridges across the city just
to save on costing to take it down from a tray & away from the footpath but
in the process entire footpath of the bridge has become unusable, who cares! Recently there was a news in paper about a
two wheeler rider bumped on the drainage pipes stacked right in the middle of
the road & the poor fellow died in the accident; this was outcome of
encroachment by PMC’s contractor for PMC drainage work on the public roads, as
imagine what would have been reaction of PMC had any private person has stacked
the pipes right in the middle of road?Isn’t all such also becomes a type of encroachment on public areas by
the govt itself; & what action concerned departments are taking about it?
Every such encroachment needs to be curbed by the system & in time as well
before anybody has to give his life for that!

Here there is one
typical argument made by NGO’s as well so called political leaders that those
who encroaches footpaths of public places, for e.g. pani-puriwala or vegetable
vendor are poor people & if we refrain them from earning their daily meal
they will turn towards crime, which will be a more negative thing; so let them
do the business on road! Well good argument but with such logic every person in
the country can break any law saying or else I will turn a criminal! Agreed everyone
should have his right to earn his meal & sure doing business of any sort is
good thing but we can make laws accordingly then. Fact is here if someone goes
to ask permission for a stall then no govt body has any clear & easy to
operate policy for hawkers or stalls for any business. This indeed is main
reason of encroachment at rampant in the city as well all around. We need to
form a very clear policy for any road side business & give instant
clearance if the proposal is in proper form & for that we need to create
spaces so that these people can make businesses which in a way are in support
of the society in end. And at many places PMC has tried it but the so called
encroachers are not ready to go to such places as they feel customers won’t
come at such place, which are easy to lure on roads itself! And that why unless
very strict action isn’t taken on the encroachments it will keep happening
again & again is a naked truth.

Many
will say considering the nexus of system & the encroachers, its impossible;
well it’s possible & answer is right in Pune city! Those who have been to
NDA road, they must be knowing there is entire NDA hill as well thousands of
hectors of vacant land along Pashan lake & NDA road but do we see a single encroachment
here? Because the land belongs to defense & no one mess up with those guys,
such is the fear of law & enforcement! If the defense can keep their lands & roads free of
encroachment why can’t other govt departments do it? The simple answer is lack
of belongingness within the govt departments towards their own properties! It’s
a naked truth that in our country, anything that belongs to govt is considered
as public property so anyone is free to use it at his will as nobody will
oppose it! Let’s understand encroachment is attitude & not just an act of
impulse, it has to be cured with strict law enforcement but here the fear or respect
whatever you call is missing from the mind of encroachers & that’s the
biggest challenge in-front of PMC or any such governing system!

And
then it’s not just PMC which is responsible for encroachment but every that
person who buys or dine from an encroacher is equally part of it; so the cure
of cancer named encroachment starts from us only. And it’s high time to start
it or else today there is no room for a pedestrian on roads; tomorrow you won’t
be able to enter in your own home as somebody may be having a stall right in-front
of your entrance & you won’t dare to touch him, such will be the terror of
encroachment. As where a PMC Anti Encroachment Squad Chief can get beaten up in
day light on road, who cares for you & me! So wake up & act against
encroachment is the only need of today if you don’t want to repent tomorrow!

1 comment:

I live in kothrud near the new DP road, also known as shrikant Thakare Road. On the said road, there is one construction carried out which is much ahead of the building line which is otherwise evidently seen. How do I go about ascertaining whether the same is indeed an encroachment?